Iran

Iran 's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that new Western sanctions against Iran were "hostile action" and would not help to resolve regional tensions, state media reported.

“The new Western sanctions against Iran are considered a hostile action and will not help the existing situation,” he told reporters in Jordan's capital, Amman, according to IRNA state news agency.

On Monday, the 27-member European Union imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities, including airlines, accusing them of taking part in the transfer of missiles and drones for Russia to use in its war against Ukraine.

Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Last week, the United States expanded sanctions on Iran 's oil industry in response to Tehran's October 1 attack on Israel, which has vowed to respond.

Iran said the attack was in retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region and a general in its Revolutionary Guards.

Regional tensions have soared since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October last year, drawing in Iran-aligned groups from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Iran was already reeling from crippling U.S. sanctions imposed following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Iran 's president Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July, has prioritized reviving the deal.

On Wednesday, Araghchi said the so-called Muscat process of indirect negotiations with the United States on nuclear issues "has been halted for the time being."

Oman has long mediated between Iran and the United States, which cut ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Araghchi said, however, that exchanges with the U.S. on other issues are "still ongoing."

Taliban authorities are looking into allegations that dozens of Afghan civilians were killed and injured by Iranian border forces while trying to enter that country from Pakistan illegally.

Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy Taliban spokesperson in Kabul, said Wednesday that "various governmental bodies" and Afghan diplomatic missions have initiated "comprehensive investigations" to verify the reported casualties.

“As the incident is reported to have occurred beyond Afghanistan’s borders, the available information remains unverified,” Fitrat noted in his English-language statement posted on social media platform X. He added that a “conclusive decision” would be made after a “thorough clarification of the facts.”

The Taliban probe was announced after an Iranian rights group, known as Halvash, initially reported the alleged Afghan casualties, saying they occurred Sunday in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan border province.

The organization quoted survivors as saying that about 300 Afghan migrants were attempting to enter Iran unlawfully when they were assaulted by Iranian border guards, resulting in deaths and injuries.

“As of now, reliable sources confirm that the news about the deaths of dozens of illegal citizens at the Saravan border is not true," Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s special presidential envoy for and ambassador to Kabul, said in a Persian language statement on X.

He referred to an Iranian region adjacent to Washuk, a border district in Pakistan’s southwestern sparsely populated Baluchistan province.

Qomi emphasized, however, that responding “legally” to the “illegal entry of unauthorized nationals” was “the legitimate right of countries, and the border guards of any country are obliged to prevent the entry of illegal nationals.”

The Iranian envoy wrote that “managing border traffic is a shared responsibility, and neighboring countries must prevent unauthorized” crossings in line with their international border security obligations. Qomi reiterated that Tehran is determined to return undocumented asylum-seekers and deal sternly with illegal border crossers.

“I'm seriously concerned about reports of injuries & deaths of Afghans in Iran's #Saravan border area and I call for authorities to investigate transparently,” Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, said on X. “Clarity is urgently needed. These reports don't stand in isolation. More dignity & safety is needed for Afghans worldwide,” Bennett wrote.

Residents in the Pakistani border district of Washuk also reported the alleged Iranian assault on Afghan migrants, but they could not provide specific casualty details, citing the remoteness of the border area.

Pakistani provincial authorities did not immediately comment on the alleged incident.

Iran and Pakistan together host millions of documented and undocumented Afghan refugees. Both countries have deported hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals back to Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power three years ago.

According to the International Organization for Migration, the deportations continue daily, and almost 100,000 Afghans returned home from Pakistan and Iran in September alone.